The present invention relates to seating furniture for mounting, by means of a fastening means, on a carrier element fastened to a natural or established foundation, and said seating furniture comprising at least a seat with a sitting surface.
EP 0 367 900 discloses a chair for a stadium. The chair is fastened to a carrier beam by means of a first bracket. The carrier beam is fastened to a stand in a stadium by means of a second bracket. The chair and the first bracket are interconnected by bolts mounted in holes in the bracket and fastened to a lower side of a seat on the chair.
Said chair possesses certain disadvantages. Mounting the chair on the carrier beam requires partly that the chair is held firmly to the upper side of the carrier beam, partly that the first bracket is held firmly to the lower side of the carrier beam, and partly that the bolts are first mounted in holes in the bracket and then fastened to the lower side of the chair. This means that it is very difficult for a person to have to both hold the chair, hold the bracket and then to have to fit and fasten the bolts to the lower side of the chair. It also means that it is difficult and time consuming to replace chairs if the chairs are damaged or if the chairs need to be replaced for other reasons. It takes more than one person with two hands to mount and fasten and/or loosen and demount the chair from the carrier beam.
NO 176681 discloses a mounting device for a bench. The mounting device comprises an insertion tube and a tube section on a side section of a stand. The insertion tube and the tube section are intended for mutual mounting for securing the bench to the stand. To prevent the bench from being lifted free from the mutual mounting, the bench is provided with a tube support provided with a foot clamp extending around a floor support and is secured to said support by means of a bolt.
From GB 1 296 128 a seating furniture according to the preambles of claim 1, claim 2 and claim 8 respectively are known. Each side frame of this seating furniture is fastened to the carrier beam independently. Each side frame is provided with a seat support and a foldable back support. The actual back and seat portions are mounted between each of the side frames. This construction is troublesome in both its assembly and its subsequent mounting, just as this seating furniture could be unstable and wobbly and the seating furniture itself could even fall apart if the fastening comes loose so that the side frame can slide on the beam.
As mentioned, the foot clamp is intended to prevent the bench from being lifted free from the mutual mounting between the insertion tube and the tube section on the side section of the stand. Fixedly securing the bench to the stand is achieved by means of the insertion tube and the tube section on the side section, said insertion tube and said tube section fixedly engaging each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,159 discloses a chair for a stadium for telescopic mounting on a transverse carrier beam. The chair is mounted on the carrier beam by means of two braces provided with tongues which engage slots in frames for the chairs and which extend around and on each side of the carrier element and are mutually secured by means of a bolt and a nut, the bolt extending through holes in the two braces. If the bolt and the nut are loosened and the two braces removed, it is possible to slide the chair along the carrier element and subsequently secure the chair again by means of the two braces, and the bolt and the nut.
This system possesses a disadvantage in that it is necessary to handle both a bolt and a nut and also handle two braces in order to mount the chair on the carrier beam or to loosen it from the carrier beam. This means that it is very difficult to mount a chair on or loosen a chair from the carrier beam, respectively. A fitter has to keep the nut positioned relative to the bolt when the bolt is tightened or loosened, has to see to it that the braces are not dropped from the stand, in for example a stadium, before or after the bolt and the nut are tightened or loosened, and also has to hold the chair so that the chair does not tip forwards or backwards before or after the bolt and the nut and the two braces are mounted or removed.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a chair for mounting on a carrier element, whereby the chair may be mounted so that it is quick and beset with fewer difficulties to mount and demount the seating furniture, and whereby only one person is required to mount and secure, and to loosen and demount, respectively, the searing furniture from the carrier element.
This object is achieved with seating furniture characterised in that the carrier element has an inner groove extending longitudinally to the carrier element, that the inner groove has an aperture to the groove itself, said aperture having a width which is less than the width of the inner groove itself, and that the fastening means has a part intended to cooperate with the brace and a part intended to cooperate with the inner groove.
Seating furniture according to the invention comprising only one brace and one fastening means for fastening to the carrier element makes it easy and uncomplicated to mount and fasten the furniture, as it is in effect possible to use just one hand when mounting and fastening the furniture to the carrier element, and also possible to hold the chair firmly to the carrier element with just one hand and with the other hand to mount and fasten a fastening means to secure the chair to the carrier element.
In an alternative embodiment, the seating furniture is characterised in that the seating furniture on a side opposite to the sitting surface, alternatively on a side opposite to the back resting surface, is provided with a profile, that the profile comprises two jaws extending in direction away from the sitting surface, alternatively away from the back resting surface, that a space is formed between the jaws, that the space is intended to receive the carrier element, and that at least one of the jaws is provided with at least one hole for fitting the fastening means.
Seating furniture according to the above preferred embodiment of the invention possesses a further advantage in that it is not even necessary to firmly hold the seating furniture to the carrier element with one hand. Once the seating furniture is positioned on the carrier element, the chair will hold itself to the carrier element in a fixed position for the seating furniture on the carrier element. Thus, it is possible, if necessary, to mount and fasten the fastening means with both hands in order to fasten the seating furniture to the carrier element.
In the following a chair will be used to describe the seating furniture according to the invention. Quick and considerably easier mounting and fastning of the chair to the carrier element and quick and easier demounting of the chair from the carrier element posses several advantages.
In connection with, for example, sporting events in a stadium where there is often much excitement, there is also the risk that a number of chairs may be damaged by the audience standing in the seats or on possible backs of the chairs. After a sporting event, it is therefore often necessary to replace a number of chairs.
Another advantage is that it is possible to make allowance for the possibility of quick and substantially easier replacement of the chairs by chairs in other colours or of different shapes, for example depending on whether it is a sporting event or perhaps a concert which is being held in the stadium. With the above features for the carrier element and the seating furniture, it is possible to use only one hand, alternatively two hands, when mounting and securing and demounting, respectively, the seating furniture to and from the carrier element.
In a preferred embodiment, the seating furniture is provided with a plate for use as a plate on the backside of a back of a piece of seating furniture, said plate having an edge section between an edge of the plate and a central part of the plate, and said edge section being provided with recesses for securing the plate to the backside of the back by means of bolts. The plate is characterised in that the edge has a first recess extending from the edge inwards into the edge section, and a second recess forming a hole in the edge section.
This results in a third advantage, namely that it is possible to make allowance for the possibility of replacing plates bearing the name of one sponsor by plates bearing the name of another sponsor, e.g. because of a wish for sponsorship of particular sporting events or a wish for sponsorship within a given period. With the above features for the plate, it is also possible when mounting and fastening, and demounting the plate, respectively, to do this using just one hand, alternatively using two hands.
Thus, the invention makes it possible for one person single-handed to undertake complete mounting and fastning of a piece of seating furniture to the carrier element, to single-handed loosen and demount the seating furniture from the carrier element to replace damage seating furniture or to replace the chairs by other pieces of seating furniture, and to single-handed undertake a possible replacement of plates on the back to change sponsor names.
In a preferred embodiment, the seating furniture is intended to be fastened to a substantially rectangular carrier element. The chair is preferably of a kind with a seat and a back, where the seat can be raised to a position in which the seat is substantially vertical.